Marine planning

Marine planning

Marine planning—content

Content on marine planning in this subtopic includes the following Practice Notes:

•
The Marine Management Organisation—the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is a statutory body created by the MCAA 2009 to license, regulate and plan marine activities in the seas around England. This Practice Note explains the status and legal framework of the MMO and summarises the functions, duties, responsibilities and enforcement powers of the MMO
•
Marine planning under Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009—outlines marine planning under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (MCAA 2009). It covers: marine planning, including the role of the MMO, the marine policy statement, marine plans, marine conservation zones (MCZs), and marine licensing
•
Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009—snapshot—summarises the provisions of the MCAA 2009, which includes the establishment of the MMO, creation of a strategic marine planning system, streamlining the marine licensing system, and introducing key changes to marine

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Environment News

Environmental enforcement round-up—10 October 2025

A round-up of the latest environmental enforcement, including illegal dumping of baled waste at unlicensed sites and illegal waste operations at three Welsh locations involving contaminated textile waste.

EA publishes summary of responses to consultation on updated enforcement and sanctions policy

The Environment Agency (EA) has published a summary of responses to its January 2025 consultation on proposed amendments to its enforcement and sanctions policy to implement civil sanctions under the Environment Act 2021 (EA 2021). In response to stakeholder feedback, the EA has published 'Annex 4: Environment Act 2021 – the Environment Agency's approach to applying civil sanctions and accepting enforcement undertakings', which outlines how the EA will exercise its new civil sanction powers, particularly in relation to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/1332. The EA has also updated its main enforcement and sanctions policy to incorporate the new Annex 4.

Defra launches Biodiversity Finance Trends Dashboard 2025 to monitor KMGBF target progress

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched the Biodiversity Finance Trends Dashboard 2025 to track international trends in biodiversity finance, with a focus on nature finance flows to developing countries and co-benefits with climate finance. The dashboard uses the latest available data, including preliminary data, to track progress against the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) finance targets and to identify areas where action is needed to bridge the US$700bn annual biodiversity funding gap, as agreed under the KMGBF. Defra plans to publish the accompanying Biodiversity Finance Trends Report 2025 on 31 October 2025, ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Belém, Brazil. The report will provide detailed analysis of the trends presented in the 2025 Dashboard and include case studies demonstrating progress towards achieving the KMGBF targets.

European Parliament set to vote on sustainability omnibus

The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) has confirmed that it will vote on the proposed sustainability omnibus package (Omnibus I) on Monday 13 October. The package is comprised of major proposed revisions to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, with the aim of simplifying existing sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements for companies by reducing administrative burdens and improving competitiveness. The European Parliament is expected to confirm its position in a vote in the full plenary in the week commencing 20 October, after which trilogue negotiations will begin. The Danish Presidency has indicated that it aims to conclude negotiations on the omnibus before the end of the year.